Our Specialties
Advisory Services
Leadership intelligence for investors. Objective, evidence-based insight to support confident investment and post-deal decisions.
Leadership intelligence for investors. Objective, evidence-based insight to support confident investment and post-deal decisions.
At Privatal, we help investors make better people decisions. Traditional due diligence covers the numbers, but rarely the individuals leading the business. Our Advisory service bridges that gap.
By integrating leadership diligence into your investment process, we help de-risk execution and accelerate growth from day one.
We offer a quick and structured approach to Founder DD, providing investors with the objective metrics needed for effective decision-making. Using a combination of leadership assessments and structured interviews, we tailor our DD process to the investment thesis to assess and ensure better alignment. This helps us identify founders with the scalability potential, ambition, and leadership skills needed to scale beyond Series A.
Most PE deals succeed or fail not on the numbers, but on the people. We offer a structured two-part MDD approach, using a combination of leadership group assessments, reference checks, and structured 1:1 interviews with sector-specific advisors, to evaluate both individual members and the team as a unit. Our goal is to help assess whether the existing management team is aligned to the same vision and can deliver on the growth plan in the next 2-3 years.
In PE-backed companies, the CEO–CFO relationship is the backbone of value creation. We use a ‘Comparison Report’ to effectively map compatibility between the existing CEO and shortlisted CFO candidates, even before an interview. Our approach highlights shared strengths, communication gaps, potential conflict triggers, and areas for collaboration from day one.
We help PE and VC investors hire the right leaders for portfolio companies through a blend of executive search and leadership advisory. Using tools like Hogan, SHL, and Everything DiSC, we assess the traits that drive performance and pinpoint candidates who exceed expectations.
We combine leadership assessments, structured interviews, and reference analysis to deliver a complete picture of individual and team capability.
Every engagement is tailored to your investment strategy, ensuring leadership evaluation is relevant, measurable, and actionable.
Beyond the data, we provide clear recommendations that inform decision-making and long-term value creation.
Companies we worked with
Luciano Ugarelli
Head of Advisory
mail luciano.ugarelli@privatal.co.uk call +44 (0) 20 3838 0074 Luciano Ugarelli
Head of Advisory
mail luciano.ugarelli@privatal.co.uk call +44 (0) 20 3838 0074Luciano heads up Privatal’s Private Equity Advisory Practice. He’s joined us from Korn Ferry, where he spent three years as a Client Manager in the advisory division, honing best-in-class practices.
Before that, Luciano worked as a consultant at EY’s performance improvement advisory practice for three years and at Accenture for five years.
Luciano now uses his wealth of experience to advise Pan-European Private Equity houses exclusively, enhancing Privatal’s ability to offer PE even more strategic and insightful services.
His deep connections within the advisory and private equity sectors allow him to deliver the highest calibre of service. Luciano prides himself on building meaningful, long-term relationships and providing sustained value for clients.
Harry Turner
Senior Principal - Interim Management
mail harry.turner@privatal.co.uk call +44 (0) 20 3834 2066 Harry Turner
Senior Principal - Interim Management
mail harry.turner@privatal.co.uk call +44 (0) 20 3834 2066Harry is a specialist in recruitment across Private Equity portfolio companies, partnering with investors to deliver high-impact financial leadership and finance transformation mandates with pace and precision.
With three years of experience, Harry brings a deep and practical understanding of the private equity lifecycle. He is a trusted advisor to CFOs and investment professionals, known for his ability to identify and secure top-tier interim talent across a range of critical functions. His expertise spans core interim CFO appointments as well as finance transformation initiatives, including financial modelling, exit support, technical accounting, and ERP/EPM implementations across all finance workstreams.
He holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cape Town and began his career with a six-month project management assignment in Saudi Arabia before relocating to London in 2021 to transition into private equity portfolio recruitment.
At Privatal, Harry combines technical insight, commercial acumen, and a sharp instinct for talent to help businesses unlock value and accelerate growth throughout the investment lifecycle.
James Woodley
Principal - Interim Management
mail james.woodley@privatal.co.uk call +44 (0) 20 3834 2066 James Woodley
Principal - Interim Management
mail james.woodley@privatal.co.uk call +44 (0) 20 3834 2066James studied MSc Investment at the University of Birmingham with an undergraduate BSc In Economics from the University of York. He has been supporting Private Equity Houses and their Portfolio Companies with Top Tier Interim Management support for several years at two UK Private Equity focused recruitment Agencies.
He has a deep network and understanding of Private Equity Value Creation and Portfolio Company nuances, making him a trusted partner to Tier 1 funds across Europe. James’ core focus is Interim CFO, Senior Finance and Finance Transformation hires, who can come in and support at critical inflexion points throughout the PE cycle.
